Luigi Pulci (15 August, 1432-11 November, 1484) was an Italian poet, humorist, and diplomat. He wrote the epic poem Morgante, about a giant who convers to Christianity by Orlando.
Fun Facts about Luigi Pulci:
- Luigi Pulci was bom in Florence, Italy. We don’t know much about his childhood, but we do know that his early patrons were Lucrezia and Lorenzo Medici (Lorenzo the Magnificent).
- Lorenzo intruoced Pulci to poets and artists and when he assumed power he often sent him on diplomatic missions.
- Around 1470, Mr. Pulci switched patrons and started working for Roberto Sanseverino d’ Aragona, most likely because he needed/wanted more money.
- His epic poem Morgante Maggiore (Morgante) is a comic burlesque with an ambivalent mood.
- The poem draws from French chivalry epics and popular poems of the times in Florence.
- Mr. Pulci started writing Morgante in 1460, first it consisted of 23 epics, and expanded to 28 later on.
- The earliest completed edition of Morgante that we know of is from 1483.
- Locrezie Tornabuoni, mother of Lorenzo Medici, commissioned the poem which was read at the Medici’s court that loved funny characters.
- Luigi Pulci wrote only in Italian, and he wrote a lot. Besides Morgante we still have a large body of his works.
- Today we associate Luigi Pulci with Renaissance epic poems. The poems use ottava rima stanza (eight 11-syllable lines) which works for it’s humor mocking heroic deeds.
Zohar – Man of la Book
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